Chapter 184

That night.

Floating Island Sion was like Noah’s Ark.

Following the Sky Bridge that descended over the Abyssal Swampland, mages climbed up in streams. Carrying large backpacks and pulling several carts.

As more people ascended to Sion along the Sky Bridge, the Allied Command erected over the swampland looked smaller and smaller.

Tents were being taken down here and there. The Truth Tower mages were the first to ascend to Sion, followed by the minor groups and free mages who had flocked from across the nation upon hearing news of the Allied Command.

As midnight approached, they finally came.

“Wahaha! I’ve arrived, Magic Emperor!”

At this time, Magic Emperor was the title they used to address me.

Society’s chairman Walrot adapted quickly. Once he’d made up his mind, he completely changed his demeanor and became ingratiating and friendly. He followed me around asking questions and expressing admiration, providing information and offering gifts to the Pathfinder mages… Though his intentions were transparent, his earnestness quickly dissolved the awkwardness.

“As I mentioned earlier, hearing the Magic Emperor’s sharp words made me feel like my mind had suddenly cleared. Our Society definitely wants to join this fight.”

Walrot approached with a smile covering his entire face. When he casually tried to cross the Sky Bridge, I blocked his path.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

Walrot opened his eyes wide with an innocent expression. Beside him, Yeon Gae-bu-so was also quietly bowing his head. Both had switched sides so quickly that I wondered if what I’d seen during the day had been an illusion. But I’d grown too weathered to be fooled by smiling faces that couldn’t spit in them.

“This isn’t just any ordinary fight, so I can’t accept just anyone, can I?”

“What? Just anyone? How hurtful to say such a thing.”

“Make me a promise. Until this fight is over, Society will not exist. In operations, organization, lifestyle—in every aspect, you will show absolute obedience to me. Of course, if you accept this condition, I also promise to work for the safety, satisfaction, and prosperity of Society’s members.”

Walrot’s expression changed. The face of a simple-hearted good person who considered all under heaven as brothers transformed into the cold face of a calculating merchant placing weights on scales.

“That’s a heavy proposal.”

“It’s a heavy fight.”

“Then when exactly does this ‘fight’ end?”

I looked directly at Walrot.

“Obviously, when we defeat the Outer God. I don’t want allies who’ll abandon ship and seek their own gain the moment the situation improves a little.”

Though I said this, I didn’t actually expect Walrot to accept the proposal.

I had prepared myself for the argument and negotiation that would follow. I had no intention of talking long. I’d try discussing a little, and the moment I saw them testing the waters, I’d wash my hands of them. And what came after that… I’d steeled my resolve.

That’s why I was so surprised.

Enough to flinch.

“Let’s do that.”

Walrot accepted the proposal without hesitation.

What…? How can he know when we’ll be able to defeat the Outer God? If the fight drags on too long, even if we win, Society’s identity could evaporate completely. If we lose the fight, it’s just over.

Essentially a situation where his organization might disappear. But Walrot smiled brightly.

“If you’ve decided to proceed with something, you should do it wholeheartedly enough to move your opponent. That’s the quality of a great negotiator. If it’s business against extinction… I can put this much on the table.”

Then he subtly grabbed my shoulder and whispered intimately.

“However, I do have one request. I’d like you to make myself and the head of our guardian family here your advisors.”

“Advisors?”

“Yes. You know the world’s secrets well, don’t you? Perhaps even more than the previous Magic Emperor…”

Walrot paused and held his tongue, then suddenly brightened with joy and smiled even more radiantly.

‘Look at this guy?’

He’d just tested my mana. By observing how my mana reacted to his words, he’d discovered the truth. The truth that I knew more secrets than the Magic Emperor. Normally, as one’s level increases, one becomes extremely careful with words… whether to call him bold or reckless, he’s not an ordinary person.

“Hehe. I knew it. Please. I’d like you to discuss the things you’re researching with us.”

It was a brazen declaration that he wanted to steal and learn my knowledge.

‘Clever.’

This could be considered quite rude to other mages, but it wasn’t really to me. I have no particular resistance to sharing knowledge. From the moment I learned magic, the emotion that dominated me was frustration with other mages who knew nothing. If they learn well when I teach them, it would actually be refreshing. He probably knew that when he made such a proposal.

And…

‘Compared to accepting a proposal where Society might disappear, it’s not that unreasonable a request.’

I locked eyes with Walrot and asked.

“You’ve finished your calculations?”

“I have. It’s a new era. We should forget the order of the previous era. Endless knowledge that even subjugated the Knight Order’s treasure, the ‘Coin of Rebellion’… In the next era, how much knowledge one has inherited from the Divine Wizard will be the measure of power and authority.”

He’s a smart person.

I extended my hand, and Walrot grasped it.

The Society mages completed the oath I had demanded and ascended to Sion in line.

On the other hand, Magic Tower ultimately refused to join us.

“Making such an oath! Unbelievable!”

Bram Skeleton instead poured criticism on Walrot.

“Tsk. Tower Master, please bend your stubbornness a little. After all, don’t we just need to discover magical secrets? Heheheh.”

Magiro, a 5th Circle mage from Magic Tower, tried to persuade Bram Skeleton.

“Insolent! Magiro! How dare someone like you speak to me, the Tower Master!”

Insane bastard…

The old fool couldn’t read the situation. Eventually Magiro shook his head and stepped back, and I completely abandoned any lingering hope for Bram Skeleton.

“Ha! I came to offer help, and this is the arrogant attitude I receive! Rather than join with the likes of you, Magic Tower will find Magic Tower’s own way. As it always has!”

Bram Skeleton withdrew with loud protests, worried that the mana might be disappointed in him for cowardly behavior. Though it seemed like an emotional and impulsive act, it absolutely wasn’t. The way Magic Tower departed the Allied Command while carefully tense, slowly and cautiously, convinced me that all of this had been planned in advance.

But is Bram Skeleton really lacking in sense of reality, or am I that ridiculous to him?

Unbelievable.

Bram Skeleton. You think I’d just let you walk away after you refuse to join this fight and go off to scheme something?

Magic Tower already had many shady dealings, but what if it turned out you were a servant of the Outer God, or the method you claim to have found involves siding with the Outer God… How much would I regret it later?

I had no desire to bear such uncertainty. I didn’t want to struggle anymore, or see anyone die pointlessly. I wanted everything under my control.

I called out to Bram Skeleton as he angrily retreated.

“Who’s going to see you off?”

“What?”

Bram Skeleton’s face contorted belatedly. Destructive magic poured down on him.

-Floating Island Sion’s auxiliary cannon, ‘Vengeance of the High Heavens,’ firing. Countdown three, two, one. Fire!

It began with Nadia’s cheerful voice.

“Spear of Longinus!”

What followed was a strike from Doom Knight Zeros, the Knight Commander using the Coin of Rebellion. To conserve consumable energy, the use of ancient weapons stopped with these two. But their destructive power was incredible. The administrative ego Nadia, who had repeated wars since mythological times, and Zeros, called the nightmare of mages, wielded two beam weapons that struck Magic Tower’s key figures at the perfect timing and most difficult angles.

While the two of them threw Magic Tower into chaos, the mages who had been preparing in advance poured down magical bombardment. After all, it was better for mages to handle the finishing touches.

‘That way the mana increases.’

Aaahhh! Kraaahhh!

The swampland bubbled and evaporated as Magic Tower’s mages melted away. For the wizards who resisted to the end, our wizards went down personally to slit their throats one by one.

I also grabbed my Twin Fang Blades and rushed into the battlefield.

Knight Order, Pathfinder, Ragnarok, and Truth Tower, plus the newly joined Society… Even 7th Circle wizard Bram Skeleton couldn’t keep his wits about him under the spell bombardment poured out by mages representing all the towers. I stealthily aimed for his back.

By the time Bram Skeleton noticed my approach, it was already too late.

“You! Why go this far!”

“It’s not exactly revenge… I just find it hard to trust you because of past grudges.”

Bram Skeleton hastily cast a spell. Thick black smoke billowed up. But that much, I swept away with the scabbard in my left hand. The billowing smoke was sucked into the scabbard. With Ki-blood and Circle now integrated, even my light gestures were no different from magic.

“Why do you think my sword is called the Twin Fang Blades? The scabbard and sword—two fangs!”

I lightly sheathed the Twin Fang Blades in the scabbard, then drew them out like lightning.

God-Slaying Lightning crackled on the blade, and Bram Skeleton’s curse, which I’d captured in the scabbard using the technique of Rainbow Shield, seeped into the blade and returned to him.

Crack!

White lightning split the now-dried swampland. God-Slaying Lightning. As its name suggested, it was magic created to kill gods. Having been focused on defending against spell bombardment, he took God-Slaying Lightning head-on… even a wizard couldn’t survive.

Bram Skeleton burned up without even leaving a scream, and his blackened bones fell to the ground in his place.

“Come to think of it, you had some skill with handling dead bodies, didn’t you? That’s why they called you the Wizard of Soul Severance?”

I ground Bram Skeleton’s charred bones underfoot until they became powder, then burned them once more with God-Slaying Lightning.

I left no possibility for future trouble. This wasn’t the time to be half-hearted.

With the Magic Emperor lost and the Outer God already at great advantage, I needed to establish a foothold for reversal before the game ended.

Farewell, Magic Tower.

Perfect for warming up before the big fight.

Battle duration: 30 minutes.

Bram Skeleton and his inner circle were all killed, and the rest fled.

The battle had been thoroughly one-sided, and at its end, Society chairman Walrot approached. With a face pale from tension.

“Um… if our Society hadn’t joined, were you planning to do this to us too?”

His tone had become even more respectful than before.

“Magic Tower definitely was going to get this treatment. Society… well? That’s irrelevant now, isn’t it?”

I smiled and patted Walrot’s shoulder.

—

That night at midnight.

Floating Island Sion once again leaped through space and soared through the night sky.

According to the Magic Emperor’s knowledge, the Outer God’s fifth apostle was crouched in the darkness of outer space, beyond the tower.

Torn continents. Crossing between star and star, the mages fell silent.

In the silence, someone spoke.

“It’s starting to feel real.”

“What is.”

“From when they said the previous Magic Emperor died, everything felt dreamlike… but today we finished off Magic Tower with our own hands.”

“True. Damn. I never imagined that joining under the Divine Wizard would mean our first mission was something like that.”

“Exactly. But it wasn’t… bad. It gave me a real sense that we’re fighting an incredible battle.”

“…Like being in a myth?”

“Yeah! That feeling.”

“Hehe. Everyone seems to feel the same way.”

The mages heading to capture the Outer God’s apostle.

They were no longer consumed by defeat or despair.

Instead, they were consumed by the strange exhilaration that comes from one-sided victory.

After all, no one had liked Magic Tower, even though they’d once fought alongside them.

Confidence had taken root in their hearts, and the magical powers showed favor toward their confident appearance.

Right.

At least having that much,

When they first faced the apostle, they might piss themselves but avoid going completely insane.